1. Copyright Authorization
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
2. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for grouping (or matching) network users, client computers and/or client software, for example, based upon values of attributes associated with such users, client computers and/or client software.
3. Background
Data communications networks are widely used to connect multiple computers together for communicating and sharing information.
Data communications networks can also be used to implement multi-user applications that allow multiple persons (herein users) to share in the operation of a computerized application. Such computerized applications are known as multi-user applications. The software used to implement computerized applications is known herein as application software or simply application or applications.
An instance of an application refers to a single copy of application software which is loaded into computer memory and then started executing instructions. If a further copy of the same application software is loaded into the memory of the same computer or some other computer, and it starts executing instructions then that constitutes a further instance of the application, even though there may be as few as one computer involved.
Multi-user applications can have many requirements as to how the various users relate to one another.
One particular type of multi-user application is a traditional electronic data processing (EDP) centralized system, such as a complex airline reservation system implemented on a group of mainframe computers and in this case each user essentially has a relationship with the system. In such a system the users don't really have much of a mutual relationship and may only rarely even become aware of one another. Thus such a system might afford different capabilities to each of airline check-in clerks, travel agents and auditors. Such users share datasets so that one user is to some extent affected by the action of another user, for example several travel agents might all be attempting to sell the one last seat available on a particular night. Such systems are known to the person having ordinary skill in the art.
Other types of multi-user applications may cause a user to have more consciousness of other user(s) and a stronger mutual relationship. This may come about incidentally, as say two geographically separated people try to simultaneously revise the same electronic document, in which case they need to become aware of each other and some form of arbitration or cooperation is needed. Alternatively the users may join in the application for the prime purpose of sharing and exchanging data. An example of this latter application would be a two (or more) party video conference with shared electronic blackboard using personal computers.
A further type of application is a form of single instance, shared resource application such as the so-called "chat rooms" found on commercial data services such as the famous CompuServe (R) service. In this latter type of multi-user application the users typically locate the shareable resource and then join (or "attach to") the instance of the application that handles the resource. Again the system may provide facilities for the use of the resource that vary from user to user.
A still further type of multi-user application, is the kind where a multiplicity of users join into a multiplicity of application instances. This genre of applications is known herein as an Online Multi-User, Multiply-Instanced Application (an OMM in the absence of any standard or popular industry accepted terminology). Typical examples of OMMs are online multi-player games which allow multiple users to share in a game with one another. These types of applications are found, for example, in the ImagiNation (TM) Network. IMAGINATION! Premier On-Line Entertainment Network--Welcome, Published 1994 by "The Imagination Network", Part Number DO-INN-CD-23. They can also be found at the MPG-NET (TM). MPG-NET Access Numbers, Published 1993 by MPG-NET, Inc.
To facilitate OMMs, a service or facility is needed to match users to specific instances of the applications. This service or facility is called a match making service (or network match making facility). When automated and implemented as one or more computer Server programs, each collection of those programs can be called a match maker application, a MatchMaker, a match maker or a network match maker. These terms are used interchangeably.
The manner in which conventional match maker applications provide information to users could be more understandable and/or intuitive. In addition, the manner in which conventional match maker applications process information related to users, client applications, and/or client computers could be handled more effectively.